1. Field
The presently claimed invention is directed to strontium (M) ascorbate compound(s), compositions containing the same, method(s) for making the same and method of using the same. More particularly, for example, strontium (M) ascorbate may be used as a dietary supplement. As a further example, the dietary supplement may be used to administer an increased level of ascorbate to a subject in need thereof and/or to a subject to provide ascorbate as a dietary supplement.
2. Description of the Related Art
The nutritional value of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is well known and its benefits have long been established. Most animals have a liver enzyme, which enables them to manufacture vitamin C in situ, by conversion of sugar into ascorbic acid. However, humans do not have this enzyme. Furthermore, humans are incapable of storing vitamin C, partly because it is metabolized and secreted and partly because it is a water-soluble vitamin.
Because humans lack the biochemical mechanism to produce vitamin C, it has to be obtained through food and/or nutritional dietary supplementation. Vitamin C is found in many fruits and vegetables, but it can also be supplemented into a number of dietary products including food, beverages, and dietary supplements.
Vitamin C has been implicated in more than 300 biological processes. The more important roles include the co-reaction with enzymes in the formation of collagen, the anti-scorbutric effect, the antioxidant and free radical scavenging reactions, energy metabolism accentuation in polynuclear leukosites and facilitation of iron absorption, among others.
The importance of vitamin C has been elucidated through understanding health complications which arise when vitamin C levels are deficient. Vitamin C deficiency can lead to a variety of conditions such as abnormal bleeding of the skin, mucous membranes, internal organs and muscles (due to impaired capillary integrity), hemorrhages, edema, joint pain, anorexia, and impaired wound healing (Mahan, L. K. and Arlin, M. T. Therapy 8th edition Philadelphia W. B. Saunders; Anderson, W. A. D. 1971 and Pathology 6th edition St. Louis, The C. V. Mosby Company).
Conversely, it has been shown that Vitamin C is well tolerated by humans and can safely be taken in mega-doses as noted by the nobel laureate Linus Pauling (J. S. Roe, Standard Method of Clinical Chemistry, edited by Seligson D. New York, Academic Press, 1961, Vo. 3, p. 35).
Clinical studies suggest that ascorbic acid participates in hydroxylation reactions associated with cholesterol metabolism (Ginter, E. “Cholesterol: Vitamin C controls its Transformation to Bile Acids” Science 1973, 179:702-704). Humans can convert cholesterol into bile acids through a series of biochemical reactions. This allows the body to rid itself of excess cholesterol. Another more notable benefit of vitamin C is the formation of protocollagen through hydroxylation of proline and lysine. The enzyme hydroxylase forms the bonds with proline and collagen uses ascorbic acid as the reductant.
Strontium is a group (IIA) element similar in many ways to calcium, the most obvious being they are both divalent cations. Because strontium is a divalent cation, like calcium, without being bound by theory, it is thought that strontium is incorporated into bone mineralization via a similar mechanism to that related to calcium. In fact, also without being bound by theory, humans physiologically incorporate strontium into bone matrices altering the bone apatite. A primary feature reported was that Sr+2 was incorporated in bone matrices at a site normally occupied by calcium (Esteve, M. J., Farre, R., Frigola, A, Garcia-Cantabella, J. M. Determination of Ascorbic and Dehydroascorbic acids in Blood Plasma and Serum by Liquid Chromatography. Journal of Chromatography 688 (1997) 345349). Epidemilogical studies suggest strontium plays a possible role in reducing dental caries (Curzon M E J, (An association between strontium in drinking water supplies and low caries prevalence in man, Arch Oral Bio 23:317-321 (1978)). Investigations following moderate oral dosing of SrCl2 indicated that strontium does not lower the serum and soft tissue levels of calcium (Skoryna, S. The Handbook of Stable Strontium, Plenum Press, New York, pp 11-617 (1966)). Additionally, it has also been shown that strontium stimulated bone formation in organ and cell cultures of rat calvariae (Vandecasteel, C., Vanhoe, H., and Dams, R., Determination of Strontium in Human Serum by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry and Neutron Activation Analysis: A Comparison, Atlanta, 1990, (37): 8, 819-823). There have been a number of positive clinical results suggesting the relationship between strontium supplementation and bone health, particularly in relation to bone turnover at menopause (Vandecasteel, C., Vanhoe, H., and Dams, R. Determination of Strontium in Human Serum by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry and Neutron Activation Analysis: A Comparison, Atlanta, 1990, (37): 8, 819-823). See also US Pub. No. 2006/0122274 A1 to Hansen et al. published Jun. 8, 2006, entitled “WATER-SOLUBLE STRONTIUM SALTS FOR USE IN TREATMENT OF CARTILAGE AND/OR BONE CONDITIONS” as well as the following references:    Meunier, P. J., et. al. Strontium Renelate: Dose-Dependant Effects in Established Postmenopausal Vertebral Osteoporosis-A 2-Year Randomized Placebo Controlled Trial. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 2002, 87(5):2060-2066; and    Anderson, R I, 1981 Ascorbic acid and Immune Functions: Mechanism of Immunostimulation in Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) by Counsell, J. M. and Hornig, S. H. 249-272, New jersey, Applied Science Publishers.